An Examination Of The Historical Writing Of Gu Yu Yan

Gu Wang Yan is a unique novel wrote by Cao Qujing at the beginning of the qing dynasty.Its content is very rich and detailed,not only has a vivid and lively popular description,it also described many historical events between the late Ming and early Qing dynasty.At the same time,in the narration of historical events,the novel show rich social information.This thesis try to analyze the source of the material of Gu Wang Yan,try to analyze the narration of historical events and historical figures of Gu Wang Yan.I hope that through a systematic and in-depth analysis,I can reveal the unique characteristics of Gu Wang Yan,so we can easily understand and hold the potential implications of the work.This thesis’ s main body part consists of three chapters.First chapter inspects the source material of Gu Wang Yan’s history writing,found that Gu Wang Yan adopts materials included in ‘Sui Kou Ji Lue’ ‘Ji Yuan Ji Suo Ji’ ‘Tan Wang’ and other books.Most of these materials is relatively short,so their trace in the novel is not obvious.Despite these materials were processed to a certain extent by Cao Qu Jing,But basically retains the original face of the materials.The second chapter inspects the historical events of Gu Wang Yan from four angles: Jingnan Campaign,Eunuch rebellion,Peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty,and the demise of Ming Dynasty.From this section we can see that tn the author’s eyes,Jingnan Campaign is the remote cause of the demise of Ming Dynasty,Eunuch rebellion is a mirror of the shame and incompetence of the literati and officialdom,The description of peasant uprising reflected the literati and officialdom’s fear of social unrest.And the Ming Dynasty,its root cause of the destruction actually was its moral corruption.The third chapter mainly analyzes the creative mind of Cao Qu Jing when he describing Li Zicheng,Emperor Chongzhen,Mao Yujian,Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng.when decrypted historical figures,Cao Qujing stood close to ordinary citizens rather than historians,at this time he was impulsive,extreme.In the evaluation of characters he mingled with strong moral consciousness,and this is Cao Qujing’s moral standpoint throughout the novel.